Toyota and Nutahara set the electric vehicle record at Pikes Peak

TOYOTA Motorsport GmbH (TMG) has made another step forward for electric vehicles by setting a new electric record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, United States.

Using the TMG EV P002 race car, powered by a high-performance TMG electric powertrain, driver Fumio Nutahara set a time of 10 minutes 15.380 seconds to set a new record for electric vehicles on the 19.99km track.

After setting a new electric lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in August 2011, TMG’s electric powertrains have now set new standards on two of the toughest venues in motorsport.

#230 Toyota Motorsport TMG EVP002: Fumio Nutahara

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

Nutahara’s time not only broke the previous electric record (12mins 20.084secs) by more than two minutes, it gave him sixth place overall to cap an impressive debut at Pikes Peak.

Based on a Radical chassis, the TMG EV P002 has a top speed of 240km/h in Pikes Peak configuration, with combined maximum power of 350kW from its two axial flux motors.

The TMG crew on-site spent three practice days finetuning the TMG EV P002 and its electric powertrain set-up for the gruelling climb from 2,800m to the 4,300m summit, with impressive results.

Rob Leupen, TMG Director Business Operations: “Following our new electric record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife almost exactly a year ago, TMG wanted a new challenge for our electric powertrains. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb gave us the chance not only to prove the motorsport potential of electric powertrains in motorsport but to do so in a very competitive environment as well. It’s a great achievement from the team here in Colorado and also all those back at TMG in Cologne who have played their part in this successful record attempt. Thanks to them and also to our colleagues at Toyota Racing Development here in the US who gave us so much great support. Now we start the search for the next milestone for the TMG electric powertrain.”